By Jon Weisman
For the second game in a row, Dodger bats were hot in the cold, the team reaching base 21 times — led by Yasiel Puig with five — in a 9-4 victory over Minnesota to start today’s doubleheader.
Because I featured Puig on Wednesday, let’s focus on a huge play in the game that came early, after the Dodgers made two errors in a two-run first inning for the Twins.
Andre Ethier and Juan Uribe singled to start the top of the second, and Miguel Olivo (2 for 3 with a sacrifice fly in his Dodger debut) walked to load the bases. Carl Crawford grounded into a force at home for the first out.
Dee Gordon came up and hit what appeared to be a sure double-play grounder to short. But with his amazing speed, he narrowly beat the throw to first base, scoring a run and keeping the inning alive.
Puig then slammed a double to deep left-center to score Crawford and Gordon, and the Dodgers were on their way.
Gordon also stole his 14th base of the season, giving him 80 for his career in exactly 100 attempts. You do the math.
With four hits and a walk, Puig, whose OPS has risen to .900, became the first Dodger to reach base five times in a game since Carl Crawford on August 7. Juan Uribe had three hits (his seventh such game in 2014), while Adrian Gonzalez had a single and three walks. Hanley Ramirez went 0 for 5 but had two sparking plays on defense, one a glove flip to Gordon for a double-play, with an assist from instant replay.
Dan Haren allowed three earned runs in 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven. Chris Perez earned an unusual save, because he entered the game in the bottom of the eighth with the tying run on deck and then finished it out in the ninth.
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